Ruly Indra Darmawan, Kristiawan Indriyanto, Mohamad Ikhwan Rosyidi, Thohiriyah
This study explores the role of mangroves as agents of memory in Leila S. Chudori’s The Sea Speaks His Name (Laut Bercerita) through a phytocritical lens. It argues that Chudori frames coastal flora not as passive scenery but as witnesses to Indonesia’s 1998 political violence. Drawing on theories of plant-thinking and ecological memory, the analysis reveals how mangroves function as a vegetal archive. Their tangled roots embody suppressed histories, their cyclical regeneration resists erasure, and their medicinal qualities echo cultural survival in the face of trauma. Through close reading and ethnobotanical contextualization, the study demonstrates how the novel embeds trauma in ecological forms, challenging anthropocentric narratives of history. The analysis also connects botanical imagery in the text with Indigenous epistemologies, where plants serve as custodians of ancestral memory. By tracing motifs such as roots, sap, and scars, the analysis identifies a multispecies structure of remembrance that operates alongside and beyond human testimony. This reading contributes to Southeast Asian ecocriticism by showing how literature transforms local ecologies into sites of postcolonial resistance and mnemonic resilience. © Darmawan R.I., Indriyanto K., Rosyidi M.I., Thohiriyah, 2026.
Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang, 50229, Indonesia; Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Prima Indonesia, Medan, Medan, 20118, Indonesia
